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Australian ex-Guantanamo inmate 'mentally scarred'

ReutersJanuary 30, 2005

MELBOURNE - Australian former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib
is suffering psychological and emotional problems due to his nearly
three-year incarceration at the US military base, his lawyer said on
Sunday.

Habib arrived home in Sydney on Friday after being released from
the detention centre in Cuba where he was held on suspicion of links to
al Qaeda.

American lawyer Joe Margulies said: "Mr Habib has some chronic
medical conditions as a result of his incarceration that we're going to
get taken care of or at least have specialists take a look at.

"He has developed some emotional and psychological conditions that will require even more time (to recover from)."

Habib was held on suspicion of helping Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda
network after being arrested crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan
three weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

However, the US failed to find enough evidence to ever charge him.

Habib has said he was tortured for six months in Egypt from late 2001 before he was sent to Guantanamo Bay.

The United States has denied prisoner abuse allegations and the
State Department has said it believes Guantanamo detainees were treated
humanely.

Australia has said Habib would not be investigated for any offence
at home as it was not a crime there to be involved with al Qaeda in
2001.

New anti-terror laws have since been introduced to outlaw being a
member of, training with, funding or associating with organisations
Australia regards as terror groups, such as al Qaeda.

But Australia still regards Habib as a security concern and will keep him under strict surveillance.

A few dozen of Habib's supporters held a public welcome-home party
in a suburban park in western Sydney on Saturday. Habib did not attend
the event.

After arriving in Australia on Friday, he was taken to a private family reunion.

Margulies said Habib's family needed time to adjust to having him home, adding that his youngest daughter did not remember him.

Margulies declined to say if Habib would seek compensation for his detention.

But Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said Habib will not
receive compensation or an apology for his detention in Cuba and under
Australian criminal law is unlikely to be able to sell his story to the
media.